On January 6th, Team Sprocket members showed up to the much-anticipated meeting to start off build season - kickoff! Members started off their day with delicious pancakes, bacon, and eggs cooked by volunteers, then all watched the kickoff stream together. Some members were excited, while others were a bit intimidated by the complexity. One of our programming leads, Joanna, made note "intimidated by the difficult game this year but excited to see the outcome of how this team will approach the challenge, happy to meet alumni and get their advice". Ashley, a CADD member, recalls, "My favorite part of kickoff was the cooking in the morning. It was one of the times during the day where I had a lot of fun, I've also never seen so many eggs or pancakes in my life. It was pretty unique. The game reveal and the hype around it was also pretty unique." Some of our Sprocket alumni attended the event and gave helpful insights, answering questions from members. After the game reveal, our engineering members were cleaning up the woodshop. Thank you alumni!

On top of the excitement from kickoff, there was another thing to get excited about - improvements to the woodshop! CADD member Ivan states, "I'm loving the new CADD space, especially the back rest and tables. I'm no longer working on boxes of 3D printers." What an upgrade! Another member, Nikk, commented, "The new woodshop feels so much more open and cleaner! Better than ever before!" The woodshop is now filled with happy members working hard, ready to start the season strong.

Throughout the week, our engineering team was working on early prototypes and creating the field and game pieces, while business was planning our competition itinerary as well as individual events. Members part of the concessions team for the FTC event we are hosting received more training, making tacos and philly cheese steaks. Overall, it was a successful and productive week and a great start to the season!